The Istanbul Innovation Days 2025 convened global leaders, thinkers, and innovators who are shaping institutional change and resilience in an increasingly complex world. This short series highlights key voices exploring the pressures driving institutional evolution and the barriers that stand in the way. From real-world examples to the challenge of anticipating crises before they unfold, these discussions explore how institutions can adapt to meet the demands of the future.
Today we’re meeting with Ana Tribin, Senior Economist at the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law project, to discuss how data, inclusion, and evidence-based reforms can drive institutional innovation.
For Tribin, public institutions must become as dynamic and innovative as the private sector. Rather than operating in silos, she argues, public and private institutions need to work together with a shared sense of mission—especially when the goal is sustainable and just development that benefits all members of society. Crucially, innovation in public institutions isn’t just desirable—it’s urgent.
Drawing from her work analyzing laws in 190 countries, Tribin highlights that barriers to inclusion, especially for women, are a major hurdle to progress. Her focus is on removing these barriers through legal reform, creating equal opportunities, and tapping into a wider pool of talent. “If everyone has the chance to realize their potential,” she notes, “we can drive higher growth and development.” To that end, evidence and data are essential tools to support innovation. By understanding what’s worked elsewhere, countries can adapt successful models to their unique contexts.
Tribin cites Latin America and the Caribbean as a region where institutional innovation around gender equality is taking shape. Although women in the region are, on average, more educated than men, they remain underrepresented in leadership positions. Initiatives like gender quotas for corporate boards in Ecuador and Panama—where one-third of board members must be women—demonstrate how targeted legal reforms can drive inclusion, enhance diversity, and ultimately foster innovation in the private sector.
When asked whether crises are necessary for innovation, Tribin is optimistic about proactive change. She believes that institutions can—and should—innovate ahead of crises by leveraging global data, peer learning, and monitoring systems to identify opportunities for reform. “Innovation doesn’t always mean starting from scratch,” she says. “Often, it’s about adapting proven approaches to your own setting.”
